Orion72
Underboss
1917 Posts
    
 | | 09/11/2006 6:03 AM |
| Calicles and I hopped over the border to Canadia to play at Huginn & Muninn with our Canuckian friends. Five of the ten players there went 3-1, including Cal & myself. I ran this:
Cadaver Collector
Mind Flayer
Half-Orc Exec x2
T-Wolf
Dire Rat x2
Gobbo Skirmisher
on Mithral Mines
The idea was to Paralyze/Stun and then let the Half-Orcs do their mega-damage while the Collector crushes whatever made its save. In actual practice, I never used the Paralysis breath in 4 games. There was never a time when Paralyzing was preferable to doing 60 near-autodamage. It did discourage swarming the Collector though.
First match - vs Kevin? on Field of Ruin
Shuluth, Chraal x2, Doog Champ, Green Dragon, Doog Warrior, K Miner x2
This would have been an easy match if I could have reached Shuluth, or hadn't rolled 1's/missed Conceal with the Collector. He managed to tuck Shuluth safely in the center VA with Chraals guarding the entrances. I tried to fight my way in, and took out the DC and a Chraal, but was killed by its Death Burst. How can a 103-pt critter not have a single elemental resistance?
One bright spot in an otherwise losing game - I caught his Green Dragon when it was both stunned and out of command, and routed it with the Half-Orc and a Rat. My other Rat successfully defended its VA against the Doog Warrior.
0-1
Second match: vs someone? on Dragon Graveyard
Warden, Lion of Talisid, Dire Bear x2, T-Wolf x3
I felt a little more confident going into this match. I knew now how non-invincible the Collector is, and what I needed to do to win. Fortunately, my opponent made it fairly easy for me by spreading out his forces. This allowed me to blow right by his Bears, take out the Warden, then take out LoT, then rout the Bears. The Bears had no trouble hitting the Collector; but after the Warden's demise, they were out of command and only doing 10 dmg per hit. Having everyone grouped around the Collector so that I could easily stun them all each round was a big help tooÂ
1-1
Third match: vs TJ on Teleport Temple
Death Slaad, Eye of Gruumsh, Orc Champ, Tiefling Capt, Drummer, Hyena, Quaggoth x2
While not a horrible map for me, this was not really a great setup. My general plan was to keep the Collector on a pad, blink around the board and hit things with Melee Reach, blinking away if it got hairy.
TJ forced me to make some tough choices on who to attack and when. In the end, he just had too few beaters to take on the Collector one-at-a-time. I took out the Quaggoths first, then blinked to a corner and went after his Champ. His Death Frog took out my Mind Flayer while I blinked over and slaughtered the Eye. At this point he could have run away with the Slaad and won on VP; instead he went for a Deadly Rend and missed, and the Collector routed the Slaad. I won by less than ten points, with only my Collector left from my warband.
2-1
Fourth match: vs. Aaron on Mithral Mines
YM, Gith Monk x4, Standardbearer, Azer, T-Wolf
Finally, the match I had been hoping for all day! Aaron had beat my LE Quad twice in a row with GAS, and I was out for revenge. Now I had a band that was a near-auto win.
I advanced the Collector halfway up the board, on the side nearest his exit, with the MF behind and the Half-Orcs as rearguards. He cautiously spread his Monks out, waiting for the time to strike. I put my Mind Flayer in a corner where a Monk could reach him by running past the Collector. Aaron took the bait and his Monk took an AoO that routed it. Two other Monks came up the Collector's other side. One was dispatched outright, and I placed the figure on the Collector's backÂÂ Â The other routed thanks to the Mind Flayer's -4 to morale. Aaron conceded rather than make me chase down his last Monk and YM.
The only way I can see for GAS to beat a CC band is to kill everything else and use speed to stay away from the Collector. Engaging it directly, especially with the Mind Flayer supporting it, is definitely an uphill battle.
3-1
Cal played his usual Moon Elf-led CG assortment. He usually gets beat by GAS; this time, he threw in Devis, and beat 2 GAS bands in a row. Cal ended up 3-1 (3rd place on percentages). My 3-1 got me to 5th place on percentages. Terry (Neidhart) won the day by going 3-1 with Belchers/Ravagers, and Dave came in second with the other GAS band.
Good times.
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